Medvedev urges to expose corrupt officials at all levels

April 17, 2013, 16:46 UTC+3“Corruption is not just legal abuse, it is a state of mind,” the prime minister stressed

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MOSCOW, April 17 (Itar-Tass) – Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev believes that the fight against corruption should be conducted at all levels – “from the president, government, parliament to municipalities and subjects.”

“Such fight requires consistency, serious efforts and certainly – time,” the RF government head told members of the State Duma lower house of parliament, delivering an annual report. According to Medvedev, the legal avoidance schemes will appear at all times, “they must be identified and exposed.”

“Corruption is not just legal abuse, it is a state of mind,” the prime minister stressed.

Medvedev drew the MPs’ attention to the fact that the legal framework for combating corruption, in essence, was created “from point zero.” “However, it is necessary to permanently improve it,” he stressed, recalling that the government has submitted to the State Duma a number of new anti-corruption bills.

Already now civil servants are required to declare their incomes and large spending, the prime minister said.

In addition, Medvedev continued, at present “all without exception” draft resolutions of the government are subject to special (anti-corruption) expert examination. Russia has also joined a number of international anti-corruption conventions, the prime minister concluded.

On Wednesday, Russian Prosecutor General Yuri Chaika who delivered in the Federation Council upper house an annual report said that the number of exposed corruption crimes in Russia in 2012 has increased by almost one-fourth, however, the number of convicted persons has decreased.

In particular, the report says, last year, the number of reported corruption-related crimes increased by 22.5 percent to nearly 50,000. Nearly 45,000 of them were identified by the police, more than one thousand – by the RF Investigative Committee, the rest – by the Federal Security Service (FSB), Drug Control Agency, customs and the Federal Penitentiary Service (FSIN).

Among the corruption crimes “the still dominating offences are fraud (34.7 percent), embezzlement (16.6 percent) committed by officials,” the report says. And the number of detected fraud cases has almost doubled.

At the same time, the report says, the number of corruption public-order crimes, crimes against the civil service interests and interest of local government decreased. “There is further reduction not only in the number of established cases of giving a bribe (by 20.5 percent – down to 3,182), but also in the number of cases of taking a bribe (by 5.3 percent – down to 6,576),” the report says.

According to the report, the positive trend is “the considerable intensification of the police operatives’ work to identify the most significant systemic corruption crimes committed by high-ranking officials, which made it possible in 2012 to terminate criminal activity of 23 lawmakers of different levels, 7 ministers of the Russian Federation subjects, 8 deputy ministers.”

Among those convicted there are 889 officials of government agencies and local self-government bodies (in 2011 – 974), of which 224 are the heads of municipalities and local administrations (in 2011 – 264). Also, a total of 1,159 law enforcement officers were convicted, including 220 investigators and inquiry officers, including 163 – in the interior bodies, 21 – in the Drug Control Service, 9 – in the RF Investigative Committee (SK), 2 – in the customs authorities, 22 – in the bailiff service. As many as 12 prosecutors were adjudged guilty.